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Sandboxels Census 2023 Report

December 15, 2023 • R74n

A census was performed for players of Sandboxels, the in-browser experimentation simulator,
from December 9 to December 14, 2023. At closing, 1,103 submissions were collected via a
Google Form containing 13 questions. This report will cover all insights that each question
provided.

Table of Contents
1.0 - Questions............................................................................................................................. 1
1.1 - How are you enjoying Sandboxels?................................................................................ 1
1.2 - How often do you play?................................................................................................... 2
1.3 - How often do you play?................................................................................................... 2
1.4 - What is your play style?...................................................................................................3
1.5 - Where did you first hear about Sandboxels?...................................................................3
1.6 - Do you think you've learned anything from playing? If so, what?....................................4
1.7 - How long have you been playing?...................................................................................6
1.8 - What device do you play on?.......................................................................................... 6
1.9 - What browser do you play on?........................................................................................ 7
1.10 - If you play mods, which are your favorite?.................................................................... 8
1.11 - What features do you wish Sandboxels had most?....................................................... 8
1.12 - Are you in the Discord?................................................................................................. 9
1.13 - Have you checked out our other projects at R74n?...................................................... 9

1.0 - Questions
Each question from the form is given a section below. Responses with custom answers were
normalized to be parsed easier, and only a few responses were excluded as spam.

1.1 - How are you enjoying Sandboxels?

Format: A scale from 1 (Hate it) to 5 (Love it).
Responses: 1,076

We received overwhelming positivity on this question, with 77.7% choosing 5, 19.4% choosing
4, and just 3% choosing anything less. Of course, only the most dedicated players would take
the time to fill out a survey, but this is still surprising.
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1.2 - How often do you play?

Format: Multiple choice.
Responses: 1,076

The majority of Sandboxels players seem to play multiple times per week, with 76.5% of
respondents answering so. This makes sense, since many players are students who play during
class time, as we will see in section 1.2.

1.3 - How often do you play?

Format: Multiple choice.
Responses: 1,078

Most Sandboxels players play during their free time and during classes. This lines up with data
that we’ve known for a while.
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1.4 - What is your play style?

Format: Multiple choice.
Responses: 1,079

Most Sandboxels players prefer to run random experiments, mixing and combining different
elements together to see how they react. They also enjoy destroying scenes, presumably with
explosions and fire involved.

This also shows that about 33.1% of players use community-created mods. Machinery, cooking,
and ecosystems are also popular.

1.5 - Where did you first hear about Sandboxels?

Format: Multiple choice.
Responses: 1,047
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Sandboxels is mostly discovered through search engines, primarily Google, and short-form
video content, primarily on TikTok. We also post on other platforms, like Instagram and
YouTube.

Sandboxels is also spread through word-of-mouth, with 19.3% saying they heard about it from
their peers. 5 respondents even said they found it by looking over someone's shoulder at their
screen.

In order, the most popular sources were search, TikTok, peers, Instagram, YouTube, other R74n
projects, free game catalog sites, PointlessSites.com, Discord, Replit, Reddit, Twitter, and
itch.io.

1.6 - Do you think you've learned anything from playing? If so,

what?
Format: Short open response.
Responses: 414

We’ve summed up the relevant responses into various categories:

1. Chemistry (47.27%)
2. Cooking (13.28%)
3. Other science (10.55%)
4. Nuclear physics (7.81%)
5. Stress relief (5.86%)
6. Ecology (3.91%)
7. Machinery (2.34%)
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8. Materials (2.34%)
9. Creativity (1.56%)
10. Science fiction (1.56%)
11. Problem solving (0.78%)

We only put one entry into these categories: Disdain for authority, Medicine, Meteorology, Mods,
Safety, Self-reflection, and Units of measurement.

Some specific highlights, reworded unless in quotes:

● Snails will eat worms
● How ecosystems form and cycle
○ “Learned more about ecosystems and this will help me in classes”
● Different materials burn with different hues
○ Copper sulfate burns green
● “It has actually helped me study for some of my chem final (sophomore in university)”
● Gained understanding of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster
● Construction of a simplified nuclear device or reactor
● “Lot of chemistry, physics, and english”
● Various culinary recipes, like cheese, ketchup, and soups
● Destroying scenes can relieve stress
● Methods of oil drilling
● “Brought out a lot of my artistic skills … my creativity level has increased a lot playing”
● Plants can freeze
● Mixing certain chemicals can result in deadly gases
● “Learned about different states of matter and my science teacher was impressed”
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1.7 - How long have you been playing?

Format: Multiple choice.
Responses: 1,069

The community is split on this one! Most people, though, have been playing for more than a
week, but 11% is still a large amount, which means Sandboxels is always getting new users.

1.8 - What device do you play on?

Format: Multiple choice.
Responses: 1,076

Most players use their school-provided Chromebooks, which follows previously known data.
Windows predictability is the next most popular. Sandboxels runs great on iPads.
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1.9 - What browser do you play on?

Format: Multiple choice.
Responses: 1,075

Most users play on Google Chrome. It is the most popular browser, the default on
Chromebooks, and the browser Sandboxels is designed the best for.

1.10 - If you play mods, which are your favorite?

Format: Short open response.
Responses: 339

Most people do not use the community-created mods, but those that do submitted their favorites
so that we can determine the Top 10 Sandboxels Mods! The winners will be listed at the top of
the Mod List.

1. alchemy.js (39 votes)

2. chem.js (27 votes)
3. delete_all_of_element.js (22 votes)
4. edible_everything.js (20 votes)
5. spring.js (15 votes)
6. devtests.js (13 votes)
7. elementsManager.js (11 votes)
8. the_ground.js (11 votes)
9. fey_and_more.js (10 votes)
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10. velocity.js (10 votes)

1.11 - What features do you wish Sandboxels had most?

Format: Short open response.
Responses: 801

We normalized all of these responses to put them neatly in a leaderboard. We can better
choose what to prioritize in development this way. We also removed things that already existed
that the respondent was unaware of.

Top 30 requested features:

Undo/Redo Velocity Life

Advanced humans Weapons Structures
Food Carbon monoxide Bombs
Machines Freeze tool Cat
Wind Delete all of element Cookbook
Custom canvas size Large creatures Drugs
Periodic elements Physics Filter
Rewind time Gun Freeze ray
Controllable character Copy-paste Magnet
Animals Element manager Multiplayer

The results may be slightly skewed, as Undo/Redo and Carbon Monoxide were used as
examples.
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1.12 - Are you in the Discord?

Format: Multiple choice.
Responses: 1,069

Most respondents are not a member of the Discord, even though it was promoted there as well.

1.13 - Have you checked out our other projects at R74n?

Format: Multiple choice.
Responses: 1,064

Almost half have visited our other projects at R74n, but not quite.
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2.0 - Conclusion
Many insights were gathered from this census, and it is likely that it will occur every year around
Sandboxels’s anniversary. Results from this report will be shared in a consumable manner on
our socials.